Scheme to include education campus on wider 7.7ha site north of Sydney
Niall McLaughlin Architects has been appointed to design a Catholic cathedral and precinct near Sydney, Australia by a local diocese following an international competition.
The London-based practice, led by 2026 RIBA Gold Medal recipient Niall McLaughlin, will transform 7.7ha of land in the city’s Waitara suburb into a spiritual and civic destination.
The announcement of the Cathedral Precinct Project marks 40 years since the creation of the Diocese of Broken Bay, which covers around 2,800sq km of land on Australia’s eastern coast and serves around 250,000 catholics.
Australian archbishop Randazzo, who led the international competition for the project, said the scheme will be a “home for faith, a place for community, and a commitment to the faithful of today and for future generations”.
He added that the diocese’s vision for the scheme is to represent a “visible and living heart for diocesan life, where worship, formation, pastoral care, outreach, and administration come together in service of commission, community, and the common good”.
An image of the proposals shows a sandstone-faced cathedral building with two spires, fronting onto a forecourt flanked by two buildings forming part of a wider education campus within the precinct.
The site will also contain a pastoral centre, a head office for a local charity providing support for people living with disabilities and accommodation for the bishop and clergy.
The cathedral will be timber framed with the wider scheme prioritising the use of sustainable materials inspired by the local landscape.
McLaughlin, who delivered a speech about the project yesterday evening at the Rothwell Public Lecture series at the University of Sydney, said the project would “help create an enduring spiritual, civic, and cultural precinct that places the faithful at its centre”
The project is now set to move forward through planning approval stages and fundraising processes which are expected to determine future construction timelines.
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